By Arpita Mahapatra
I had to start with a Poe quote. And let me just tell you that looking for pictures related to this article made me cringe multiple times and since I’d rather you sleep without those images plastered to the insides of your eyes, I’ll stick with the (comparatively) nicer ones.
We’ve all been familiar with fairy tales since childhood, thanks to our elders and Disney. But not many people are aware of the original story behind each fairytale. After reading this article, you will reconsider associating fairytales with ‘happily ever after’.
CINDERELLA:
People do the strangest things when they want to be accepted by someone- whether it is love driving them into action or, as in this case, greed. The stepsisters in this story are said to have sliced off bits of their feet in order to fit into the glass slipper.
Moreover, it is believed that doves (and in some versions, pigeons) pluck out their eyes for good measure. Imagine how cruel they must have been to Cinderella for such symbolically peaceful birds to attack them. Atleast they waited until the girls were married.
Also, what is with the Prince forgetting the face of the girl he was apparently in love with?! (I mean come on, isn’t Love at First Sight supposed to be about looks? How much CAN you know about someone in one night?)
SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS:
Seven dwarfs?! And you’re sure they are all platonically in love with Snow White? Umm, okay. So, apparently, the Evil Queen is the girl’s actual mother. So Snowy inherits her complexion and turns out to be fair (read: just) at heart, making her the fairest of them all.
(So clearly, even the stupid MIRROR seems less shallow than the Queen. I am quite sure he was tired of looking at her face every freaking day. Also, nobody hates anything more than a pretty girl who constantly needs to be reminded she is beautiful. I’m sure many people are going to unfriend me after reading this. Oops.)
Legend has it, the Queen orders the huntsmen to bring back Snow White’s liver and lungs to eat. I wish she would have thought of asking for her heart- maybe that would have magically transformed the queen into half a human.
Even worse, the Prince finds Snow White dead. And he thinks she’s a pretty porcelain doll to play with. Let me leave the rules of that game to your (by now) corrupted imagination. He doesn’t even bother to carry the dang coffin and when his servant drops it, the piece of apple stuck in her throat comes flying out of her (apparently) open mouth (eww) and voila! She is saved- or rather, married to the freak of nature.
LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD:
Let’s face it. We’ve all been fascinated by the image of the wolf, whether or not we are thinking of werewolves in fantasy novels. There’s just something majestic and alluring about them, something fiercely enticing in the way they move in packs. They make you think of raw power, loyalty, and mystery.
The more disturbing symbolism behind the wolf is represented by the one in Little Riding Hood and has seeped into modern crime fiction including novels such as Mystic River by Dennis Lehane: that of a rapist.
In the actual story, there is no noble huntsman to the rescue. The little girl is welcomed by the wolf in disguise and tricked into feasting on her grandmother’s flesh and blood; (as if that weren’t horrifying enough) I am sure you can guess what follows.
Now that I have ruined your childhood, I can only hope you get a good night’s sleep. Fare thee well.
(All images have been taken from Google.)
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